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Why would a power supply die so fast?


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I have a cooler master 600w that I got for only 43.00 CAD last year during Autumn with my new comp. The thing is making horrid, ghastly noises now, and Schot looked at it and said the the fan has stopped working mostly, and is making grating noises when it tries to jump start itself. Microbytes says the psu is defective, they got another one for me (the part was actually discontinued, but they still tracked one down :4rofl:) but I'm just curious if it was really from being defective, or if I just ran the computer too hard?

 

:thumbsup:

 

gogo

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I have a cooler master 600w that I got for only 43.00 CAD last year during Autumn with my new comp. The thing is making horrid, ghastly noises now, and Schot looked at it and said the the fan has stopped working mostly, and is making grating noises when it tries to jump start itself. Microbytes says the psu is defective, they got another one for me (the part was actually discontinued, but they still tracked one down :4rofl:) but I'm just curious if it was really from being defective, or if I just ran the computer too hard?

 

:thumbsup:

 

gogo

Defective. Ive never seen a power supply do something like that.

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Well, I hope it's not a lemon then. They did tell me the power supply was discontinued and I did get it for an awfully good price. The warranty only lasts so long however...

 

:thumbsup:

 

gogo

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If the new one goes bad after the warantee expires, just buy a new fan, remove the old one, and put in the replacement. It will probably outlast your PC.

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At work (since I'm in IT I get to see a few)... we've had several defective power supplies over the last year. One batch of 10-15 pcs all went dead the same week, amber light, no POST no nothing. But we'd had power surges/failures just the weekend before so it's attributed to that. We've also had motherboard failures because of PSU fan failures. So yes fan failures are quite possible. It's really the only moving part in your PSU unless you have a modular one or something, and even then it's just a set of plugs as far as I know.

 

Coolermaster shouldn't be a problem as far as quality (They have lovely fans in my case, and reviews I've seen say they're good quality) however... have you checked temps on your computer at all gogo? If your computer is running hot your fans will be running higher than normal and you'll wear them out sooner.

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Only have heard of one power supply going (Ruth computer actually SMOKED)... mostly we notice the fan is dead first. (24 years of I.T. experience here). :D

 

Power supplies are fairly cheap... $30, yes? A fan is a lot less. I just replace the entire power supply.

 

We need dat coolin'!

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Decent quality 600W+ one is closer to $70, but comparing that to the cost of a new PC if you fry the whole thing, it's worth it.

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... have you checked temps on your computer at all gogo? If your computer is running hot your fans will be running higher than normal and you'll wear them out sooner.

 

Very good point.

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I had a power supply go out after 6 months use. The system builder replaced the power supply for free. He said power supply failure happens sometimes, but could not offer a reason.

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gogo - you've got to stop abusing your system :)

 

Seriously, it does happen, and since the fan is the main moving part, that will normally be the first to go.

 

I'd suspect dirt or dust is the culprit. If your PC is on the floor, try raising it a bit - it will collect less detritus that way.

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Typically the fan will go first since it's the only thing that has moving parts...almost sounds like a bearing or 2 fell out...also heavy load for a long time will prematurely wear the components...high thermal readings can break down several aspects of IC's, regulators etc. It's like buying a car that can go 200 mph...sure you can drive all day long at 200 but it will break down a lot faster than if you were going 100 all the time.

 

Typically the power supplies I use for work have double the amps/watts required to run the circuit. Sure the pc ones can't be much different

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I bought a psu from computer geeks that exploded(not an exaggeration, the noise woke me up at 2:00 am) after 1 day of use. I RMA'd it and the replacement lasted about 2 days before it died.

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PSU's do fail...and when they do they usually take out the motherboard with them....my experience. :thumbsup:

 

Dont skimp on the PSU...spend extra for overkill when it comes to the 12V lines and also, only ever use a well known brand.

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The problem with PSU's is that the good ones are often so expensive--well worth the cost in some cases, but expensive none the less. I know that my unit will NOT do crossfire or even a highend graphics card from nVidia's camp.

 

Years ago, before I read about rails, I would just shop by wattage and everything worked. I got a decade of use out of a 300 watt A-pro PSU. Now I always look at the specs, though I believe I mis-clicked when I purchased my current PSU and just said 'what the hey' when I opened the box.

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Yeah a lot of people do, the same with video cards...

The higher the amount of memory the better :unsure: booooy that can be very confusing to people, when you're busy explaining that a 3870 with 512MB is faster than a 9400GT with 1024MB lol

 

And OT: well even the most expensive products can be defective. It just happens. *shrugs*

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Just for fun--the incredible exploding powersupply

 

http://www.geeks.com/largePic_All.asp?Invt...SAS-RD-soft.jpg

 

And the unit that eventually replaced it. More oomph in the rails than some higher cost units. I still have it in the closet.

 

Now my current PSU, a 530 watt Raidmax unit has two +12v rails; one with 20 and one with 17 which is a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you are talking to.

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